The pickup truck has been adapted by many house holders and journeymen for a variety of uses. Adaptations include;
racks for carrying pipe, lumber, metal bars;
side panels for hauling loose bulky material such as leaves and trash;
large chests for carrying tools that can be locked and secured in the bed of the truck.
The adaptive equipment--the pipe rack, tool chest and the side panels--are typically heavy and awkward to install and remove. Yet the journeyman frequently needs to use his truck for any or all of these jobs.
The typical toolchest (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,774) straddles the low side walls of the truck so that it must be removed when it is required to install side panels or pipe rack. Another problem with the typical toolchest is that it is generally built for only small tools since it must be removed frequently. Therefore large tools, such as a lawnmower or long handled shovel, cannot be stored therein.
The type of load for which a pipe rack is normally required is pipe that is longer than the bed of the truck. Since it is dangerous to carry pipe, lumber, etc., that protrudes out the back end of the truck, racks are normally built to support the load higher than the cab of the truck so that the load can extend over the cab. After the rack has been installed and has been used for its intended purpose, it is then desired to remove and store the rack in order to park the truck in a space with limited overhead clearance such as a garage or carport. Pipe racks for trucks of the prior art are large heavy rectangular frames that have a width and length comparable to the width and length of the truck bed so that installation and removal is difficult even for two men.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,303 to Hather discloses a pair of doors covering a truckbed in which the doors may be attached to the sidewalls by hinges having cutouts that enable the user to disengage the hinged attachment along the outside edges and hingably attach the doors along a line in the center of the truckbed where the doors meet. A support bar across the truckbed near the forward wall and the rearward wall may be installed to support the doors and for carrying boats when the doors are open. The support bars are removed when it is necessary to close the doors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,448 discloses a truck frame with telescoping members to reduce required storage space.
Side panels which are an extension of the sidewalls of the truckbed are useful for transporting light bulky materials--leaves, trash, branches, etc. However the extension tend to restrict the field of vision of the driver so that he normally prefers that they be removed when not in use. Removal and storage of these extensions can be a nuisance when they are not needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,775 describes a load bearing security cover for a pickup truck having two doors, each hinged to the top edge of a sidewall or the truckbed and having a removable plank that forms an extension of the forward wall of the truck bed when the doors are open. The plank is maintained in position by sliding each end into a channel mounted on the edge of the doors. When the doors are closed, the removable plank is positioned vertically with one edge in contact with the centerline of the truckbed and parallel to the sidewalls and with the second long edge supporting the doors. While the claimed construction achieves the object of a cover to form an enclosure over the truckbed or extended sidewalls, the construction is not adapted to carry long lengths of pipe.
Both U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,551,239 to Bond and 4,531,775 to Beals disclose meeting edges with weather stripping along the meeting lines of the two doors. The problem with weather stripping used in this manner is that weather stripping material "wears" with use and time so that this construction eventually loses its effectiveness to preclude rainwater from the bed of the truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,239 to Bond discloses a cover for a truck including two doors, each one hinged along an outside edge to the sidewall. Each door is opened by applying pneumatic pressure to a cylinder connected between the floor of the truckbed and the respective door. The device requires a source of air pressure for its operation and its construction is more expensive than the lift assist of the present invention.